


Buddy

by nachocheese26



Series: The Gangsitter [6]
Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Gen, I think that tag should be there, Kind of angsty, Minor Character Death, Rio is just so good with kids, Soft Rio (Good Girls), but not too much, can be read as stand alone fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-24
Updated: 2019-10-24
Packaged: 2020-12-28 15:00:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21138599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nachocheese26/pseuds/nachocheese26
Summary: Instead of Beth rushing to explain whatever situation she was in, he heard sniffling and a shuddering breath. “Elizabeth?” His voice softened as he tried not to think of the worst possible thing that could’ve happened.“No, it’s Emma.”Rio closed his eyes at the way her voice cracked. “Hey, lil’ mama. Is everything okay?”“No!” Then Emma began wailing.Rio clenched his jaw, already reaching for his other phone to send a message to Demon to get to the Boland residence immediately.“It’s Buddy!”





	Buddy

**Author's Note:**

> I was going to wait until the weekend because that's when I like posting, but I finished this earlier and it's been sitting in my drafts, so...here you go! Hope you enjoy this one!

If you were to ask Rio how much he loved Marcus, he wouldn’t be able to give an answer. Because he loved that kid so much, he didn’t think he could put it into words. _Nothing_ could ever describe how much he loved his son.

But the kid could _talk_! It was as if every single thought that entered his brain had to be immediately spoken aloud because then the world might implode or some other catastrophe would happen.

It was a wonder he didn't lose his voice halfway through the day with how much he talked.

Rio let him talk of course, because Marcus was only six and it was normal for kids to talk that much and he never wanted to tell Marcus to stop because then that would only increase the chances of Marcus building up resentment and refusing to even tell Rio good morning when he was in the angsty teenage phase.

But that didn’t mean that Rio wouldn’t lock himself in his loft after dropping off Marcus with his mom and refuse to see or speak to anyone for the next hour. He would just lie on his bed, eyes closed and listening to nothing but his breathing. And maybe some people might call it meditation, but Rio called it just enjoying the quiet after having to hear a little person talk non-stop from the moment they woke up to the moment they fell asleep.

And that’s exactly what he planned on doing as he stepped into his loft. He took off his jacket and threw it over the back of the couch, toed off his shoes, and fell backwards on his bed with a long sigh. He closed his eyes, kept his hands still at his sides and inhaled deeply, then exhaled.

_Finally_, it was quiet.

But after seven breaths, his phone started ringing.

Damnit, he forgot to put it on silent.

He held his breath, waiting for it to stop, then continued his breathing as the call went to voicemail.

Three breaths later, it started ringing again.

Rio reached behind him and grabbed one of his pillows. He held it over his face in an attempt to block out the ringing because he was already lying down and did not want to get up until an hour had passed.

Except he could still faintly hear the ringing and whoever was calling had called five times now and _why hadn’t he put his phone on silent_?!

Muttering a string of curses in both English and Spanish, Rio tossed the pillow aside and got up. He pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket and sent the call straight to voicemail without even checking who it was.

As he switched the phone to silent though, he could see who decided to call him seven consecutive times.

Elizabeth Boland.

Of course.

He knew his phone would start going off with text messages as she talked about a ‘pair of shoes’ that were ‘tracking in mud’ or even a ‘white shirt’ that had a ‘wine stain’ or some other ridiculous shit she came up with to say there was some kind of problem without outright stating she had a problem.

And by the time Rio’s hour of silence was done, his phone would have a full voicemail inbox, fifty missed calls and dozens of messages from her.

The phone lit up with an incoming call from, surprise surprise, Elizabeth Boland.

The phone was on silent, he could stuff it back in his jacket pocket and deal with it in an hour.

But then his hour of silence would be filled with different scenarios of whatever trouble Beth found herself in and maybe even her attempting to get out of the trouble but only making it worse.

If he dealt with this now, or at least tell her to not do anything stupid and he’d get back to her in an hour, then he could enjoy his hour of silence without interruption.

He answered the phone just before it went to voicemail. “What?” he growled into the speaker.

Instead of Beth rushing to explain whatever situation she was in, he heard sniffling and a shuddering breath. “Elizabeth?” His voice softened as he tried not to think of the worst possible thing that could’ve happened.

_“No, it’s Emma.”_

Rio closed his eyes at the way her voice cracked. “Hey, lil’ mama. Is everything okay?”

_“No!”_ Then Emma began wailing.

Rio clenched his jaw, already reaching for his other phone to send a message to Demon to get to the Boland residence immediately.

_“It’s Buddy!”_

Rio’s thumb paused before sending Demon the message. “Buddy?”

_“He…he g-got really sick and…” _Emma hiccupped out a sob.

Rio deleted the message and put his work phone back down. He didn’t need Emma to finish explaining what happened to the dog. “Is your mama there?”

_“She’s with Jane and…” _Emma sniffed loudly, clearing her nose of the snot that had gathered. _“Can you come over?”_

“Yeah, I’ll be there in a few.” Rio didn’t even notice that he didn’t give his hour of silence a second thought.

* * *

Rio walked in through the front door. He hadn’t even finished closing the door when he felt one of the kids colliding into him, wrapping their arms around his waist.

He bent down and picked them up, seeing that it was Emma. She buried her face into his shoulder and he could feel it immediately getting damp with her tears. He carried her as he walked further into the house.

Danny was in the living room, watching _All Dogs Go to Heaven_ and bringing up a hand to wipe his eyes every other second. Kenny sat at the kitchen counter, a tub of ice cream in front of him but not even eating any of it. Just watching as it slowly melted.

Rio walked into the kitchen and set Emma down on the bar right next to Kenny’s melting tub of ice cream.

Kenny barely took his eyes away from his ice cream, nodding a hello to Rio, then looking back as he stuck his spoon in and out of the ice cream.

“You doin’ all right?” Rio asked, setting a hand on Kenny’s shoulder.

Kenny shrugged in response.

“Where’s your mom?”

“Outside,” Kenny said, looking up and his eyes staring out the window over the sink. “She’s…” Kenny swallowed hard and looked back down to the ice cream.

Rio looking out the window too. Beth was digging a hole.

“Wait here, yeah?” he said as he squeezed Emma’s arms.

She nodded and rubbed her nose.

Rio walked into the backyard, stuffing his hands in his jacket pocket as he approached Beth. “Need help with that?”

Beth snapped her head up, not having heard him approach. She let out a deep breath, bringing a gloved hand to wipe her forehead. “If you came here to harass me about that pill drop, I still have two more days. So just…why are you here?” She sounded a combination of frustrated and tired. She stuck the shovel back into the ground, gathered more dirt, and tossed it onto a growing pile next to her.

Rio stopped just a few feet away from her. “Emma called.”

Beth stopped digging, staring down the shallow hole. “I told her not to. That you were probably busy.”

Generally, he did consider himself busy when his hour of silence rolled around. He wasn’t about to mention that though. “Lil’ mama sounded heartbroken.”

Beth pursed her lips and closed her eyes. “We just got back from putting Buddy down.”

Rio didn’t say anything for a moment, watching Beth continue digging the hole. “Let me help with that,” he finally said.

Beth shook her head though and continued digging. “I got it.”

Rio clenched his jaw. Fine, if she wanted to dig this hole by herself, why should he stop her? But he was here and he was going to help. “The kids eat yet?”

“No. They probably aren’t going to want to eat anyways.”

“Ain’t gonna hurt to have food ready for ‘em though.”

Beth paused to look at him. And Rio knew she was trying to figure out what he thought he was going to get out of this. “Fine,” she said, turning back to her digging.

Rio turned back to the house and went in through the kitchen. None of the kids had moved. He went to the fridge, with plans to cook what he always made for Marcus when he was having a bad day.

He put some water to boil and took away the tub of ice cream Kenny had out and put it back in the freezer. “Y’all hungry?”

Kenny and Emma shook their heads, but Danny peeked at Rio from over the couch. “What are you going to make?”

“Macaroni and cheese.”

Danny left the movie playing on the TV as he wandered over and sat next to Kenny, motioning for Emma to move over on the counter.

Rio glanced at the three of them as he grabbed the box of instant macaroni and cheese from the pantry. “And Jane?”

“She’s upstairs taking a nap,” Kenny answered.

“She started crying so much that she threw up,” Danny added, thinking this was information Rio needed to know.

It wasn’t, but now wasn't the time to say that.

He checked the instructions on the back of the box, making sure he put enough water to boil, then looked at them again.

It was almost disturbing with how quiet they were behaving.

But he wasn’t going to try and pull any conversation out of them. If they didn’t want to talk, then he wasn’t going to make them. They needed to continue processing this and Rio wasn’t going to stop that by forcing them to say words they weren’t feeling.

The water came to a boil and he poured the pasta in. He stirred it occasionally, pulling out some butter and milk to add. They watched him quietly, with a sniffle or a shuddering breath breaking the silence every now and then.

When it was ready, Rio asked who wanted some.

Only Danny raised his hand.

Rio grabbed a bowl from one of the cabinets and served Danny a few spoonfuls.

Kenny and Emma made no move or gave any indication that they were about to start talking while Danny ate the macaroni and cheese one small pasta piece at a time.

Rio went ahead and started washing the kitchen, putting the rest of the macaroni in a container and left it out in case one of the others got hungry.

And while he was washing the pot, the kitchen door opened and Beth came in.

She didn’t say anything or look at them as she made her way to the sink. Rio moved a little, allowing her to wash her hands from all the dirt that still got on her hands despite wearing gloves.

She turned around, letting Rio finish washing the pot, and dried off her hands as she took in the sight of her kids. She let out a heavy sigh before speaking. “When Jane wakes up we can go ahead and…have a little ceremony.”

Danny’s fork clinked loudly against the bowl and Rio could hear him slide it across the counter.

He rinsed off the pot and set it aside to dry. He turned around to look at the kids too, settling in just close enough to Beth that their arms would occasionally brush against each other.

“But what if the doctor made a mistake and he actually put Buddy in a coma?” Danny asked. “And then he wakes up and he can’t breathe because we buried him!”

Emma turned to Danny, her eyes wide with horror as fresh tears poured down her face. “We can’t bury him, Mommy!”

“Honey, we…we have to. I’m so sorry, but…”

Then Kenny slammed his fists on the table, surprising even Rio. “He’s just a dog! Why do we even have to do this?”

“Kenny, he’s-“

But Kenny pushed back the barstool loudly and stood up, marching the entire way up the stairs and then slamming the door to his room.

Beth let out a quiet groan, before pushing herself off the kitchen counter to go upstairs and talk to him.

Rio stopped her though, grabbing her arm before she could get any further.

She looked at him, her mouth open and ready to demand he let go of her, but Rio just shook his head. “Give him space. They got different ways of processin’ this.”

“Yeah, but-“

God, Beth couldn’t just leave it be, could she? “I’ll talk to him, yeah? But he needs some space first.”

Finally, she relented. But she didn’t look at him. Instead, she looked around the kitchen, into the living room, at their backpacks.

And Rio could see her already coming up with a list of everything that needed to be done. Despite the passing of their furry family member.

“Why don’t you two go finish that movie?” Rio said to Emma and Danny. Because he assumed Beth was about to tell them to get started on homework.

Emma and Danny did as he asked, their movements sluggish.

Then Beth turned to Rio with a huff. “They need to do their homework. No TV until they finish their homework!”

It didn’t surprise him that Beth was the kind of person that would force themselves to stay busy after something like this happened. She could do that, but Rio didn’t want her trying to force that on the kids. Who very obviously did not process grief the same way.

“Hey.” Rio grabbed Beth’s arms and held her in front of him. “Take a breath. All that stuff can wait a day.”

Instead, Beth huffed again and Rio could see her eyes filling with tears. “But I _have_ to do something. I can’t just…” A tear rolled down her cheek

Rio let go of her arms, but only to reach up and wipe away her tear with his thumb. “I know. But right now, you gotta take a deep breath. Just one, then you can do whatever shit you think gotta get done. Go buy groceries or get your oil changed or _somethin’_. But take a deep breath first.”

Beth pressed her lips together into a thin line. And he could see her fighting it. Trying to hold back a breath because she was going to start crying.

When Marcus got like this, refusing to take a breath because he was going to start crying, Rio always pulled him into a hug.

Which is exactly what he did with Beth.

She curved her body into his as he pulled her tightly against him. Her fingers dug into his shoulders as she buried her face in his chest and quietly cried. Rio held her, rubbing a hand slowly up and down her back.

“He was _such_ a stupid dog,” she whispered through her tears.

Rio laughed softly. “Yeah, didn’t seem like he had much goin’ on in that head of his.”

“I mean, he was supposed to be a _guard dog_ and he just…” Beth pulled back a little to look at him. “He just let you waltz right into our home that very first time.”

Rio brushed away more of her tears and tucked her hair behind her ear. “You regret that?”

Beth finally took her deep breath. “No.”

Then she took another, looked down, and took a step back. “I’ve gotta go to the grocery store. I…” She looked up. “I really hate to ask this…”

Rio shook his head. “I’m here for as long as you need me.”

Beth gave him a small smile. “Thanks.” Then she wiped her face some more and left the kitchen, grabbing her purse and keys. She pressed a kiss to the top of Emma’s and Danny’s head and told them she’d be back soon then walked out the front door.

Rio crossed his arms and looked around the house. It was relatively spotless, considering the kids were too upset to really do anything besides lounge around and watch TV.

He joined Emma and Danny on the couch, the two of them moving so he could sit right in the middle. Danny pressed himself into Rio’s side while Emma rested her head on Rio’s lap.

Emma and Danny occasionally brought a hand up to wipe away some tears or snot. Rio half paid attention, pulling out his phone every now and then to send a quick message to one of his associates, making sure things were running smoothly, answering any questions, making sure they had the list of names of people they were collecting from tonight.

As Danny got up to grab the remote to start the movie all over again, Jane came down.

When she saw that Rio was in the living room, she began crying all over again and ran to him. He caught her easily, letting her sit in his lap as she sobbed and told him that Buddy was gone.

“I know, lil’ bit,” Rio said, rubbing her back the same way he did with Beth earlier. “I know it hurts.”

It wasn’t until halfway through the movie did she finally stop crying.

And Rio decided now was as good a time as any to go up and talk with Kenny.

He set Jane down in between Danny and Emma, answering their small whines of protests with a “I’ll be right back.”

Rio went up stairs and paused just outside of Kenny’s room. He listened, hearing only a soft thump that he assumed as Kenny throwing a ball against the wall. He knocked on the door.

“Go away!” Kenny yelled back.

The response didn’t surprise Rio, but he knocked again. “Hey, man, just wanna check on you. Make sure you good.”

Kenny didn’t give a response this time.

Rio leaned against the door. “Can I come in?”

Kenny still didn’t give a response. But Rio heard the doorknob clicking. Rio turned the knob, finding it unlocked.

Kenny was sitting on the floor by his bed, throwing a ball against the wall and catching it.

Rio took a few steps in and leaned against the dresser. He didn’t say anything, Just watched as Kenny continued throwing the ball.

Then finally, Kenny caught the ball and didn’t throw it. He turned to Rio, his eyes blazing. “What? What do you want? Why are you even here?”

Rio shrugged. “Was waitin’ on you to say somethin’ first.”

Kenny rolled his eyes. “Well I did. So you can go now.”

Rio blew out a heavy breath. “If that’s what you want.” Rio pushed himself up from the dresser and turned for the door.

Once he was out in the hallway, Kenny called out. “Dad said he’d get us another dog.”

Of course car man would say that. Just throw money at the problem. That’ll fix things.

Dickhead.

“That what you want?” Rio asked, looking at Kenny and leaning against the doorframe.

Kenny didn’t look up as he shook his head. He threw the ball again, but this time failed to catch it. He clenched his fists. “I want Buddy back,” he whispered. “He wasn’t just some dumb dog.”

Rio walked into the room again, this time, sitting on the floor next to Kenny. “No. He wasn’t.”

And Rio was already imaging how a conversation with Dean might’ve gone when Kenny called him looking for comfort.

_“You gotta remember, Buddy was just a dog. We can go get another one next week when you come stay with me.”_

He wouldn’t put it pass the dumbass to say something like that.

“Rio?”

“Hmm?” Rio looked down to see Kenny looking at him.

“I don’t want another dog. Not for a while at least.”

Rio nodded. “And that’s okay.”

They sat like that for a while, neither saying anything. Rio could hear Kenny begin sniffling. He reached over for the tissue box on the desk and handed it to him. Kenny took it, still not breaking the silence.

Rio heard the front door open, Beth coming in and asking the kids to help her unload the groceries from the van. Rio looked down at Kenny. “Your mom’s home. I think that means she’s gonna wanna do the ceremony here in a little bit.”

Kenny nodded, wiping a few stray tears away.

“You wanna be a part of it?”

Kenny nodded again.

Rio gave him a small smile, reaching over and giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze. Silently, he got up and left Kenny to put on his shoes.

“Thanks.”

Rio paused in the doorway. “Anytime.”

He went downstairs just as he Beth was passing by with an armful of several grocery bags. Rio easily slid those out of her arms and carried them to the kitchen.

Beth let out a deep breath as she dropped her purse and keys to the floor. “Did you talk with him?” she asked quietly, following him into the kitchen.

Rio nodded, already pulling things out of the grocery bags and organizing them on the island to be put away. “Car man wants to buy them another dog already.”

Beth scoffed, grabbing the cans of tomatoes and placing them in the pantry closet. “Of course he does.”

“He’s better now. Just needed some space.”

“God, I’m not ready for him to become a teenager yet,” Beth groaned, gathering the bags of fresh vegetables and putting them in the fridge.

Rio smirked, folding the emptied paper bags and putting them under the sink where Beth stored them. “Hey.” Rio grabbed her wrist, making sure all of her focus was on him and what he had to say. “You’re doin’ a good job now and you’re gonna keep doin’ a good job. You know why?”

She gave a small huff. “Why?”

“Because you a boss, bitch.”

His statement actually pulled out a small laugh from her.

Rio smiled at the sound. He let go of her wrist, but still held her gaze. “You good?”

Beth gave a small shrug and a half-smile. “We’ll be good.”

Kenny came downstairs, his eyes red from crying. He went straight for Beth and hugged her. Beth hugged him back pressing a kiss to the top of his head. Rio noticed Kenny almost reached her shoulders now. Before they knew it, Kenny would be looking directly into Rio’s eyes.

Hell, there was a chance Kenny would have to look _down_ to meet Rio’s eyes.

Rio didn’t want to think about that.

Beth cleared her throat. “Come on, guys. It’s time to say goodbye to Buddy.”

Sniffling filled the air again and Jane openly wept. She ran up to Rio and he picked her up, carrying her as they all shuffled outside towards the grave Beth had dug. They circled around the small mound and Kenny placed Buddy’s collar on the mound. Then they each said what their favorite memory of Buddy was.

Jane wiped her wet face on Rio’s shirt. He didn’t grimace, just adjusted his hold on her. “Rio, you gotta say somethin’ too.”

“Honey, he doesn’t-“

But Rio shook his head and cut off Beth’s words. “I’m glad I got to meet Buddy. Because he’s the first one that gave me permission to come inside. And if he didn’t let me come inside that first time, I think things would’ve been a whole lot different.” He looked right at Beth as he spoke.

Beth shook her head, but she still smiled.

And Rio smiled back.

**Author's Note:**

> I mean...whatever happened to that dog anyways? So...this is just kind of my response to him disappearing...
> 
> Send me prompts: nachocheese-itsmycheese.tumblr.com


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